


Chance Meetings & Light Meanings

by followmetoyourdoom



Series: What Makes A Family [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Forbidden Love, but then most things i write are, lil bit angsty, sweet fluffy stuff rn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7762201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followmetoyourdoom/pseuds/followmetoyourdoom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of how Thace and Mama Kogane got together and how Keith Kogane was brought into this world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Miss Kogane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunate circumstances land Miss Kogane aboard a Galra ship as a prisoner, but there's a small ray of light when she strikes up a friendship with a Galra boy named Thace.

"Ooooh! What's that?"

The Galran general smiled at his son's curiosity, "That's a prisoner transporter."

"Are there prisoners on this ship?" the boy asked with wide eyes.

"There are."

Young Thace scurried on ahead with a cry of "I want to meet them!"

"Thace, that's not how it- Oh forget it." Thace was too far away to hear him now. Raising his wrist to his mouth, he spoke into his communicator, "Renok to prison bay, Renok to prison bay. Keep a look out for my son will you. He'll be coming your way and I have other business to deal with."

"Can do, Sir," was the response and Renok sighed in relief. He recognised the voice on the other end of the line as Pacla, a young recently trained soldier, but one of the best in her regiment. He knew he could count on her.

No sooner had Renok got off the line did Thace round the corner and barrel past Pacla in a rush.

"Whoa kid," she called after him, "you Renok's son?"

Thace stopped dead, "Yeah… Why?"

"You need to wait here with me for your father."

He considered this statement for a moment. "Nah," he said, before continuing along the line of cells. Pacla groaned in frustration and went after him. Damn kids.

She soon caught up to him and began leading him back to her station, ignoring most of his complaints until he dug his heels in.

"Don't make me carry you kid, it will be very easy for me and very humiliating for you."

Thace leaned away from her warily, "I just wanted to meet an alien, I've never met one before."

"Oh for the love of- fine." She glanced quickly at the cell number nearest to her, grinned, and slammed her fist against it, "Anyone awake in there?"

The sound of armour against metal reverberated around the hall, but apart from that, there was silence.

Pacla shrugged, "Looks like you're shit outta luck kid."

"Papa says not to swear," Thace replied with a frown. "And that's just one cell. There's hundreds here."

"There sure are," Pacla replied, shoving Thace forwards.

He ducked under her arm and went back to the cell Pacla had hit and tapped on it gently, "Is there anyone in there, I just want to say hello."

Again, nothing but silence.

Pacla sighed, "Kid, she's not gonna-"

"Hello…" came a soft voice from behind the door.

"-reply." Eyebrows raised, Pacla laughed softly, "Well I'll be."

Ignoring her, Thace continued to speak to the girl behind the door. "Are you an alien?"

"No, I'm a human."

"So you are an alien."

Thace heard a small thump, like the sound of someone stamping their foot, "Am not!"

"It's okay, I suppose I'm an alien to you. So you must be to me."

The human said nothing for a few seconds, "... I suppose."

"I'm Thace," the young boy introduced himself, trying to peer through the window at the top of the door. Alas he was still too short.

Apprehensively, the girl replied, "I… I can't remember my name."

"Oh…" He tugged on Pacla's arm, "Do you know her name?"

"Nah, she's in the system as Kogane, but that's all we've got."

Thace turned happily back to the cell, "Did you hear that? You're Kogane."

"Kogane… I… I think I remember people calling my parents that. I had another name."

Frowning, Thace tugged at Pacla again.

"Kid, I can't help you or little Kogane here, that's all we've got. Anyway, she's a prisoner," she said haughtily, "prisoners don't deserve to have names."

"That's silly, she didn't ask to be a prisoner. And everyone deserves to have a name."

Pacla shrugged and began walking back to her post, "Whatever, make sure you get back when your father calls you," she called over her shoulder.

"Will do!" Thace happily shouted, settling himself down in front of the cell. "So, can I call you Kogane?"

"Wait, I'm trying to remember my name."

"Okay." 

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the human sighed in frustration, "It's no use. I've forgotten."

Thace could swear he heard her sobbing softly, "Hey… hey don't cry. Maybe you can give yourself a name?" When she didn't reply, Thace continued, "Or I could guess your name?"

Still nothing.

"How… how long have you been here?"

"I c-can't remember that either," she hiccuped.

Thace frowned, "Why don't you tell me what you  _ can _ remember?"

There were a few sniffles as the girl stopped crying and tried her darndest to remember her life before becoming a prisoner.

"I remember rain," she said softly, "and the little stream that ran behind my house. In autumn it would fill up then in winter it would freeze over and me and my family would go ice skating on it."

Thace listened with awe, not understanding half of what she was saying, but loving every second of it.

"There was a forest there too," she continued, "It was filled with trees and plants and life. I played in that forest every day, running under the leaves and dancing between the roots of the trees. I felt like I could fly, like I was free. And now I'm in here."

"I'm sorry." Thace muttered, "I'm sorry you're a prisoner."

In the darkness of her cell, little miss Kogane smiled sadly, "You're the first person to say that."

"Really?" Thace was appalled, "Well then from now on I'm going to say it everyday." 

She chuckled, "You don't have to do that."

"I want to."

She smiled again, the sadness leaving her face for the first time in years, "Okay."

A loud voice interrupted them,"Thace?" Renok called down the hall.

"That's my dad, I have to go." 

"Oh…"

He put his hand on the door, "But I promise I'll be back tomorrow."

A faint laugh, and then, "I'd like that."

"Well… Goodbye, Miss Kogane," he said as he stood up, fingers trailing up the door and along it as he returned to his father.

The human placed her hand on the door, "Goodbye. Thace."

The next day, Thace escaped his father's watch once more and slid past Pacla. Or tried to. As he tip toed along the hall, thinking he'd gotten away with it, she called out, "Going to talk to that human prisoner again?"

Thace winced and turned around, looking like a deer caught in headlights, "Maybe…"

Pacla didn't even look up from her magazine, "'s fine with me, just don't touch anything."

"Can I touch the floor?"

"You wanna touch it with your face when I tackle you?"

Thace gulped, "Moving on."

He jogged along the corridor of cells, checking for the human's cell number and stopping in front of it when he found the right one.

A quick tap, followed by, "Miss Kogane?"

"Thace?"

The boy smiled and settled down as he had the day before, shuffling up to the door and taking out a book he had concealed in his jacket.

Shoving it under the door he said, "I found this in my dad's study. It's a name book for earthlings. That's where you're from right, Earth?"

"I'm from Nakatsugawa. Also I can't see very well in here." The book was pushed back under the door, "but thank you anyway."

Clasping it to his chest, Thace suggested, "Maybe I could read it to you? Read the names out I mean."

"Alright."

Thace smiled and opened the book, but his face soon fell as he saw it was written in some sort of earth dialect. It would seem that the plastic cover on the front written in Galran did not extend throughout the book.

"Is everything okay?" the human said after a long pause.

"I can't understand the book," Thace admitted, peering at the first word. "It's not written in Galran."

Miss Kogane considered this for a second, she had learnt how to read both Japanese and English pretty early on, her parents very insistent that she got a proper education. Maybe she could teach Thace?

"What does the first letter look like?" She tried.

Thace squinted and turned the book this way and that, "It looks like an arrow kind of," he finally decided, "with a stick halfway through it."

An arrow with a stick half- oh, "That's A," she told him. "What's the next one?"

"Okay, the next one is a sort of circle with a tail."

That was an easy one, "Also A, just a small A."

"Huh, do all letters have two forms?"

Miss Kogane thought for a second, "Yes and no." 

Thace looked like someone contemplating the difference between a kilogram of steel and a kilogram of feathers, completely lost by the human's statement.

When he said nothing, just continued to ponder this ridiculous nature of the English language, Miss Kogane prompted him, "What's the next one?"

"The next… the next one, oh! Yes, the um, the next one… uh… teeth? Round teeth?" 

"Bottom or top teeth?"

Thace bit his lip, "Bottom, I think."

She nodded, "A small M."

"Okay, and the next one is just a circle, no tail this time."

"That's an O, how many more are there in that word?"

He tapped the page excitably, "Just one more, and it looks like a vertical stick with a curved line attached to the top of it."

"Could be a weird T maybe, or a small R?"

Thace shrugged, "What's the difference?"

"Is it small or big?"

"Small… kinda."

Another nod, "A small R then. So it was A A M O R? Yeah?"

Thace traced the letters as she said them, "Ayayemohorr."

Miss Kogane giggled, "If you're trying to say the name it's more like Ah-morrr I think."

"Oh, so you don't say all the letters? Ahamoar?"

She laughed - a full, whole hearted laugh this time - and the sound thrilled his ears, so he tried to say the word again.

"Ah-more?"

Success, yet more laughing! "Close enough," she said happily.

"So," Thace said, "Is that your name? Aamor?"

She thought for a second, "No, I don't think so. What's the next word?"

And so it went, Thace describing each new letter as he came across it, all the while searching for the human's name. A stick with a bump on the bottom was a small B; a stick with a dot on top, a small I; a circle with a hook underneath it, a small G; and a single stick, a small L. 

Along with other letters, the next word became, "Aybeeyegeeayeyeel? That's a long name."

Miss Kogane's laugh echoed down the cell hall, "No no no," she giggled, "A-bee-gay-l."

"Ahbeegayul," Thace repeated slowly, "Abigail?"

"Yes, that's it!" 

Thace stood up with a start, "That's your name?!?"

"Nonono," she quickly corrected herself, "I meant you said it right."

He slumped against the door, "Oh."

"It's okay," she reassured him, "We'll find it."

"Yeah!" Thace said, quickly moving onto the next word.

When his father finally caught up to him and the Galra boy had to leave, he stuffed the book back into his jacket and once again apologised to the girl for her imprisonment, just as he said he would. Miss Kogane smiled and wiggled her fingers under the door in farewell.

For the next week or so, Thace slowly came to grips with the written English language. His reading skills improved to the point where he was able to read through names on his own, with only a little bit of help from Miss Kogane. 

He finished names beginning with A, was introduced to the capital B, and began reading through those. Eventually, the human found this rather boring, despite his good intentions, and began asking him questions about the outside world in-between names.

"Bee-ah-trice?"

"Beatrice, and no." She was lying on her stomach and kicking her feet backwards and forwards in the air, tracing the pattern Thace's shadow made under the door. "So how many stars are there?" she asked.

Flipping onto the next page, Thace replied distractedly, "Too many, but they're so far apart too, we don't tend to go near any. Obviously. Belinda? Did I say that name right?"

"Yeah, you did, but no, next one." She propped her head up on her hands, "Would it be bad if we got near a star?"

"Well yeah," Thace said, looking up, "They're unbelievably hot, like millions of degrees, well, maybe not quite a million, but something like that. They're hot anyway." His finger moved across the page, "Bella? Or Belle?"

In the darkness, Miss Kogane shook her head, "Neither of those. Are they bright? I remember them being bright."

"They're very bright, yeah. Bellona?"

"I'd like to see one."

Thace looked down at the book with a frown, "A Bellona?"

"No silly," she laughed, "a star. I haven't seen one in so long."

The young Galran pondered this. Prisoners weren't allowed to leave their cells, but even so, it was just a star... Surely Pacla wouldn't mind?

"Are you out of your mind?" Pacla shouted, "You can't take any prisoner out of their cell, even if you are 'fwends', certainly not just so she can see a bloody star. She'd run at the first chance she got."

"No she wouldn't! Please, Pacla."

She shook her head, "Nu-uh, I'm already breaking protocol by letting you talk to her, you want me to take that away?"

"No..." Thace pouted, dragging his feet along to Miss Kogane's cell. He flumped down in front of it with a grumble, not even bothering to take out the book.

Miss Kogane heard him arrive, and felt her way to the door, "Thace? What's wrong?"

"Pacla's being a meanie."

"Ah yeah," she nodded wisely, "She does that."

Thace huffed, "It's just, I wanted to show you a star but she said no, then I said yes, then she said-"

"Whoa wait a sec, you mean to say you were going to show me a star?"

"I wanted to yeah," Thace sighed in annoyance, "But Pacla won't let me. Miss Kogane?" he said after he got no response.

She licked her lips, "I'm just.. wondering what to say." 

Thace waited patiently, allowing her to speak, something she had been denied ever since being taken as a child.

"I… I haven't seen light - proper light - in so long, I've kind of… forgotten what it looks like," she laughed shakily, "Silly right? To forget what light looks like?"

"No," Thace reassured her, "it's not silly at all."

And in that moment, Thace made a decision. He decided, no matter what it took, that he would bring her to see a star someday. Not just any star, but the star of her solar system. 

He would take her home.

As he reached under the door to brush his fingers against hers, he told her this, sealing the deal with a pinky promise.

For the next two years, she held hope in her heart and laughed almost everyday. They soon forgot about the book, names a menial thing compared to what they had now. Miss Kogane didn't mind, not when every day brought happiness and new stories and a heartfelt apology from someone who held nothing but kindness in his heart. 

Not when every day brought lightness into her own heart.

Gradually, she began to remember what light itself felt like and added new meaning to the word. Light meant the soft rise and fall of his voice, the gentle warm brush of his thumb across hers against a cold hard floor, the welcoming skip of his steps everyday and his shadow under the door. That flickering image she could only just make out that meant he was there, with her.

And when one day her light in the dark didn't show up, it felt like she was slowly being shut away from the world again.

As the days without her friend dragged on, the darkness took over once more and all hope of ever seeing even the tiniest light faded completely. It would seem that his promise meant nothing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did Thace leave suddenly? Find out when my brain spews out the next chapter.


	2. Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An insight into Thace's school life as he waits for the day when he can return to Miss Kogane

"Leaving? I can't leave! I don't want to leave!"

"I don't care what you want," Renok snarled, "You'll do as you're told."

Thace frowned up at his father, "But what about Miss Kogane?"

"Miss K- oh the human prisoner? What about it?"

"Her, what about  _ her _ ." Thace corrected his father, "And she'll wonder where I've gone."

Renok scoffed, "The human only puts up with you because it has no other choice."

"No, that's not true! We're friends! And she's not an 'it'."

There was a loud bang as Renok slammed his fist down on the table, making Thace jump, "IT," he shouted with emphasis, "IS A PRISONER. NOT A FRIEND, NOT A PERSON TO TALK TO. THAT HUMAN IS THE PROPERTY OF THE ZARKON EMPIRE. NOTHING MORE," he neaten up his ear fluff as he calmed down, "Now you will do as you're told. Pack your bag, you're leaving in less than an hour."

Quivering, Thace nodded shakily and went to his room. Sulkily, he began throwing his things into a Galra standard backpack, not even paying attention to how he packed it. 

He'd never seen his father so mad before. He'd never been... afraid of his father before.

As Thace picked up his old jacket, the name book fell out, splaying open on the last page he'd read. Two years he'd known her, and he didn't even know her name. He never even got past the C's. Hastily, he shoved it to the bottom of his backpack as a reminder of the promise he was determined to keep.

Renok was waiting for him with folded arms, "Let's go, son."

"Can I say good-bye?" Thace tried.

"No."

And that was that. Thace was shown to a ship heading for the Intergalactical Zarkon Academy, a place where they would try to train the kindness out of him, away from his father and away from his friend.

"I'll come back to you," he promised the stars. "I swear I will."

The ship faded off into the abyss of space, taking the light far away from the girl in the dark.

* * *

 

"So you've decided, you're going to the main prison ship too. Why?"

Thace shrugged, "I told you, I have some unfinished business."

The young Galra - Vukano - frowned at his friend, "But you're graduating with honours in communications," he spluttered incredulously gesturing at the crowd of senior students they found themselves in, "You're Renok son!"

"So?"

"So you could do way better, you could get a job on Zarkon's ship!"

Another shrug, "Maybe I don't want to. Anyway Vuki, this way I can carry on watching out for you," he grinned, ruffling his friend's ears.

Thace laughed and jumped away, almost bumping into another student, as the smaller Galran man poked him in the side in retaliation, "I told you not to call me that!" Vukano yelped, but he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. 

Ever since he had first been enrolled in the Academy, Vukano had been picked on by the other Galra. As the runt of the litter, it was to be expected. 

Thace had never been a fan of meaningless suffering that was 'to be expected'.

And so, almost as soon as he had got there, Thace had taken Vuki under his wing, challenging the bullies to pick on him now Renok's son was looking out for him. 

In light of this, people tended to leave the pair alone.

However, no matter how close the two were, he kept his other friend - the human girl - a secret from Vukano. It was nothing personal of course, Thace just wanted to keep her to himself. He wanted to return to her, not because he felt pressured to do so, but because  _ he _ wanted to. He genuinely missed Miss Kogane and didn't feel like others would understand. 

Not even Vuki. 

He didn't want anyone to try talk him out of this, he was going to find her again, and he was going to fulfil his promise.

And soon he would.

Thace wondered if Miss Kogane still remembered him, "Can't believe it's been three years…" he mused to himself.

"I know right?" Vukano said, completely misunderstanding, "When I met you, we were both so tiny. Then you shot up and I-"

"Grew a couple of nanolutes," Thace said with a smirk, pushing thoughts of the human away.

Vukano stood on his tiptoes and measured himself against his friend, "I'm not that much smaller."

Thace threw his arm around Vukano's shoulders, "Don't worry about it. What you lack in height my friend you more than make up for in creativity."

"Yeah, but... it's not valued much, is it?"

He thought for a moment, "Not in its pure form, no. But who was the only one to figure out all the glyphs on that one test?"

"Me," Vukano mumbled sheepishly.

Thace smiled and shifted his weight to bring Vuki closer, "And who crafted the academy's first hyperelectrode pulsation canon?"

"Me... but you helped with the schematics!" he protested.

"Doesn't matter," Thace enthused, "You came up with the entire idea, I just made it work, that's all."

Vukano snorted, "That's all? Dude, you worked out how to connect the electromagnet right next to the pulse core without it constantly re-polarising."

"Child's play," he said dismissively. "Realising that an electromagnet was needed in the first place? Now that's ingenious."

"Will you two compliment each other approximately eighteen petalutes away from me?" interrupted one of their classmates, though 'mate' wasn't the most accurate of words.

Thace rolled his eyes. The Galra who had spoken, Sykoz, had been a thorn in their side ever since freshra year. Bullying Vukano from the start and then making snide remarks whenever he saw the two together - which at first had been even worse for the small boy, a new form of torture he had to endure. 

But hanging out with Thace had given Vuki a lot more confidence than his fourteen year old self had had. 

He twisted round and looked Sykoz dead in the eyes. "Don't worry," he replied with a toothy smile, "when you're working in garbage disposal, approximately eighteen petalutes from us is where you'll be."

A snicker and a high five from Thace soon followed as Sykoz mumbled something along the lines of 'teacher's pet'. But the bully was ignored as the headmaster of the academy took to the stage and called for silence.

"You'll be first up there," Vukano whispered.

Thace could only nod nervously as Vuki patted him across the shoulders then released him in preparation for him receiving his communications certificate. 

He couldn't even believe he'd come top of the class sometimes, but then Thace was the only Galran student in the entire academy to know the written human language. Or one of them anyway.

So lost in thought, Thace almost missed his name being called out. It was only when Vukano nudged him towards the stage and gave him a thumbs up that he realised.

It was time.

A thousand pair of eyes followed his path; the walk seemed to take an age, the thud of his footsteps the only sound echoing in the hall.

The ceremony itself was over quickly; a Galran salute, a mutual cry of "Vrepit Sa!" and that was it, he was walking back. Other students who had come top of their respective class got ready to accept the same and stepped forwards eagerly. 

And slowly, the rest of the graduates filtered through. Before long the entire hall was empty and graduation parties were getting underway.

Not that Thace cared.

He sat alone in his dorm, a certain book held open as he absentmindedly flicked through it. At his feet sat his bag, packed and ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, when he'd be boarding a ship heading for Miss Kogane's solar system. Then on the third day of travelling he'd arrive, and on that day, he'd see his friend again. 

Just four more days.

Provided she was still on the same ship of course, Thace mused, which she should be - moving prisoners was a fickle business and not one that was carried out often. Especially not young prisoners, there was no need. Or so Thace hoped.

Vukano's voice jolted him out of his daydream, "Thace? You coming buddy?" Vuki stuck his head round the door. "Everyone got an invite to the main graduation party so they can't stop us from getting into that one, though I suppose if Sykoz has anything to do with it he could try to…"

As Vukano rambled on, Thace discreetly hid the book under his pillow, and stood up.

"You go on ahead, Vuki. I'll see you there in a bit."

Vukano let out a groan, "C'mon dude, last time I went to a party on my own I spent half of it in a corner and the other half hiding from Sykoz and his gang."

Thace laughed good-naturedly, "Alright alright, let's go then."

The pair returned late to their dorm with smiles on their faces, all their troubles forgotten for the time being. But then that could have been the Bubla Juice. Neither of them had really realised that there was a limit to how much they could drink.

Come morning however, Thace's mood changed drastically.

Vuki woke to the sound of someone swearing under their breath and lots of rustling, he was about to ask his friend what the hell was wrong when someone else asked instead.

"Whatcha looking for?" a voice sneered as Thace tore apart his bunk, "A sense of humour?"

"Shut up Sykoz, this has nothing to do with you. Go practise rolling in garbage," Thace shot back, his voice equally as snarky. Sykoz flounced off with a growl, probably to bully some other poor bugger.

"What  _ are _ you looking for?" Vukano asked quietly once the coast was clear, leaning his head over the top bunk's railings.

"A book," Thace whispered back, "I left it here and it's gone. It was a human book."

Vukano frown, "A human book? Where in the galaxy did you get that?"

"Found it in my dad's office," he mumbled, "it's… it's how I learnt how to read a human dialect."

"Oh," Vuki blinked. Thace had never even gone into how he'd learnt said dialect, just told him he had and that was it. "Well, where did you have it last?"

Thace lifted up his pillow and showed it to Vuki, "Under here."

"Really, in mid-air?" he quipped.

"Vukano, this is serious."

Uh-oh, Thace never used his actual name, this really was serious. "Maybe the bunks got cleaned up already? Last night sometime when we weren't here?"

An angry sigh and Thace was storming down the line of bunks, but he couldn't help overhearing a certain someone's conversation, "-full of mumbo jumbo so I threw it out."

" _ What _ did you throw out?" he asked, stopping dead in his tracks. He had a feeling he knew exactly what had been thrown out.

Ignoring Thace, Sykoz began looking around mockingly, "Did someone here a voice?" he asked the Galra surrounding him loudly, "Sounded like a little mouse- OOMPH!" 

He was cut off as Thace grabbed him by the neck and picked him clean off of the ground, pinning him against the wall where he squirmed, gasping for breath.

His lackys backed away. You don't interfere in one on one brawls, no matter who was involved in them. Vukano's head popped up once more on hearing the commotion and he watched silently from his bunk, ready to spring to his friend's defense should he be needed.

"I'm going to ask you again." Thace whispered menacingly, "What. Did. You. Throw. Out?"

"A book," Sykoz squeaked when Thace relaxed his grip a tiny bit to allow him to speak, "a book with weird symbols in it. T-the title said it was a name book. I didn't know- I- I had no idea what it was," his words were almost incoherent by this point. "It looked dumb and stupid so I threw it a-" 

Thace had heard enough and dropped him. He returned to his bunk without a backwards glance and swung his backpack on, clearly getting ready to leave.

"Dude, what was in that book to make you… not you?" Vukano asked as he climbed down the bunk ladders.

"A promise," he murmured cryptically, "and what do you mean 'not me'?"

Vuki sighed and pulled Thace back towards him by the strap of his backpack, "I mean, that I've only ever seen you get pissed off once before like that, and that was when you were defending me. Who is this book about?"

"'Who'? Who said anything about a 'who'?" Thace said hurriedly.

"Dude," Vuki raised an eyebrow, "don't play dumb with me, I know you. Who is the damn book about? Or linked to, or whatever. Just tell me."

Thace stayed silent.

"You can trust me, buddy."

Could he though?

What if Vuki treated him differently after he told him? What if he told someone else? He'd be stopped from taking up a job on the prison ship for sure. What if-

"Thace?"

A sigh, "Alright," he glance at Sykoz who was only just recovering. "But not here."

"Later, on the transport ship?" Vuki suggested.

Thace nodded, "On the transport ship."

Soon after, the recent graduates boarded their respective ships, breaking apart friends and cliques alike that had sworn to always be together. Even the Galra struggled through high school, some of them anyway. Thace and Vuki were lucky to be able to stick together, if Vukano hadn't've been assigned to the old prison ship… 

Thace didn't know if he could have chosen between the two. 

Once aboard the tiny two man ship, Thace began recounting his time with Miss Kogane while Vuki listened intently, never once interrupting. Thace told him of his first interaction with the human, of his daily trips and how she taught him to read with the book that was now long gone, her laugh that he missed almost as much as the ghostly touch of her hand under the door. Her eyes that longed to see the stars he saw every day.

And finally, he told Vuki of the promise he had made and was determined to fulfil.

"-would have told you sooner but..."

"No. It's, it's okay," Vuki said as Thace trailed off, "It is rather… strange. This is the unfinished business you have? Making good on your promise to the human?"

Thace nodded, "She deserves to see the stars. She deserves to go home."

Vukano bit his lip as he considered how to phrase his next words, "You do know that if you go through with this, if you set her free… You'll be convicted of treason."

"Only if I get caught." Thace noticed his friend's apprehension and quickly continued, "I'm not asking you to help me or anything just… this is something I have to do."

"Hey," Vuki put his hand on Thace's shoulder, "the amount of times you've helped me? Of course I'll help you. I can cover for you while you go see her and when you… make good on your promise."

Smiling gratefully, Thace pulled Vukano into a hug, "Thank you, Vuki."

Vukano hugged him back hesitantly, but hug him back he did. He could have mentioned the thousands of other prisoners that surely deserved the same, going by Thace's logic. But he did not. Partially because Vuki didn't entirely agree with his friend's point of view, but also because he knew Thace already knew this.

He knew that Miss Kogane wasn't the only prisoner, he knew that none of them deserved to be locked away as they had; but she was his friend, and he had promised.

The Galra were not ones to break promises.

And so, as the transport ship sped through space bringing Thace ever closer to Miss Kogane, Vukano made his own private promise. He vowed to support his friend and help him as best he could. They were in this together, no matter what.

Because that's what friends do, right? They look out for one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was not meant to be as long as it is and I apologise for the lack of Thace x Miss Kogane interactions, next chapter will def have her in it


	3. Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting back to Miss Kogane isn't as hard as it should be; getting her to forgive him? Now that's a little trickier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got emotional writing parts of this, also I have most of the rest planned out now, tho differently from my original idea. Anyway, enjoy~

Thace tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the prison ship grow in size the closer they got, sadly they were not quite there yet. 

The screens surrounding the control bay - not that one was needed since the transport ship flew itself - showed an ETA that was met with disapproval from Thace. Every so often he would glance down at the screen, frown at it, prod it impatiently which did nothing, and then return to watching the ship approach.

Vukano watched this little series of events with amusement. By the fourth or fifth repetition, he was chuckling softly, "Dude, we'll get there eventually. Stop messing with the screen you might screw it up."

This was met with a "hm," but Thace stopped prodding the screen. Still frowned at it though.

Eventually they arrived, and as soon as the documentation was put through and rooms were assigned, Thace sprinted off for the prison bay where he'd willingly spent almost two years of his life. Vuki smiled, happy for his friend, and took both their bags to their rooms.

Trying to remember his way around, Thace took a few wrong turns here and there, but eventually found his way. Swinging round the corner, he was met with a familiar face. "Thace! You've grown, kid, you're taller than me now."

"Pacla?" Thace skidded to a halt," You're still here!" This was great, Pacla wouldn't mind him visiting Miss Kogane.

The sentry grinned and put her hand on his shoulder. True to her previous statement, she had to reach up. "Sure am, didn't think you'd come back to this disaster of a ship, where'd you go anyway?"

"Zarkon's Academy, graduated with honours," Thace said proudly.

"Ah yes," Pacla mused wisely, "nerd school."

Thace shrugged, "Eh, I was never cut out to be a soldier."

"Well," she assured him, "just as Zarkon needs people to fight for him, he also needs people behind the front lines working the machinery and tech and what-not."

"And people to watch the prisoners," Thace cracked with an impish grin, falling back into the familiar routine.

Pacla laughed and clapped him on the back, "I've miss your sass, boy. But nah, I'm happy here," she defended, "don't have to do any work. You should know as well as I do that if you graduate top of the class you get to pick your job." Thace nodded as Pacla gave him a knowing look, "Three years of hard work and then I don't have to do shit all for the rest of my life."

"Isn't it kinda boring?" he wondered.

"Actually yeah…" Pacla admitted, "especially since you left. No-one to berate. Ain't as fun sassing the prisoners when they're too goddamn scared to sass you back."

Thace raised his eyebrow, "Maybe because they know they'd get killed for it."

"Wow, you haven't changed one bit," she laughed again, not realising his discomfort, but knowing why he was here. "I betcha wanna go right ahead and see your little human friend huh?"

"I would actually, yes," he said matter-of-factly, stepping forwards.

Pacla stopped him, sticking her arm out, "Too bad, kid. She's not here anymore," Thace's face fell before she had time to continue, "all the human kids got moved down to deck two, sector four, I think."

"So she's still on this ship?" Thace said hopefully.

"Oh yeah," she reassured him, "just you won't get to her as easy. They've ramped up security down there you know."

Thace frowned determinedly, "I'll find a way."

"That's the Thace I remember," Pacla said fondly, "you've got a lot of your father in you, you know."

"Mmm," Thace grumbled. He respected his father - the General was a good man to those he saw as his equal or above him, the problem was the lack of the former and practically non-existent state of the latter. On the contrary, Thace was kind until he was given a reason not to be.

Not long after, the two exchanged farewells and Thace left in search of deck two - it was not a place he'd ever been to before. 

On his way, he called back at the dorms to find Vuki busying himself organising his collection of various space rocks. His aunt was a scout pilot and occasionally sent him souvenirs of her travels. She was rather fond of her nephew.

"Hey dude," Vuki said once he noticed Thace, "I was about to come and find you. I dumped your bag on your bed for you, you're in the room next door."

Thace raised his arm as Vukano threw him his key card, catching it deftly in his hand. 

"Cheers, Vuki."

Vukano smiled knowingly and leant on his door frame, waiting.

Not a couple of ticks later, Thace returned with a dumbfounded expression on his face and the Earthling name book in his hand.

"Where… where did you find this?" he whispered with awe. Thace had thought he was never going to see the book again.

Vuki shrugged, smiling, "Searched through the trash for it of course."

Thace was speechless and gaped at his friend. After a few ticks of silence, Thace spoke, his voice breaking slightly, "Vuki… I… Thank you. You, you don't know how much this means-"

"Oh I do, it's why I took the time to find it for you, you numpty."

"How long  _ did _ it take you? To find this, I mean," Thace asked, turning the book over in his hands. It was slightly torn and smelt of something he'd rather not think about. But he had it.

Vukano pursed his lips as he thought. "Maaaybe a lil too long? But it doesn't matter," he gestured at the book, "you've got it back. Tada!"

Thace laughed shakily, "Thank you again."

"No problem, now don't you have a friend to find?"

"I do yes," Thace nodded, slipping the book under his armour.

As he left the room, he thanked his friend once more which was met with a laugh as Vuki ushered Thace out the door.

Now then, deck two… That was the deck below the one Thace was currently on so a lift was needed. Shoulders back and chin up, Thace marched down the corridors, eyes darting this way and that as he searched for a way to get to deck two.

Eventually he found a lift and tried his luck, pressing the palm of his hand against the control panel. The lift doors open without so much as a beep. 

So far so good.

Thace selected the appropriate deck and the lift began to move, coming to a halt ticks later. Squaring his shoulders once more, Thace stepped out and continued along his way. It wasn't long before he came around another soldier who simply nodded at the boy, assuming he had been assigned down here. First day with new recruits was always chaotic.

It was easy enough to find his way to sector four, however, it turn out to be a pretty large sector with cells lining multiple corridors.

Not so easy after all.

Deciding to go from right to left, Thace turned and began walking, only to stop when he heard a sudden cry. Where had that come from? His ear twitched in response to a second cry, and Thace whirled around, steps quickening as he narrowing in on the source. 

Turning around the final bend, Thace found a sight that made his blood run cold. 

Galra soldiers, two of them, were laughing as a group of human women - no older than nineteen, some much younger than that - struggled to stand, chained up together as they were. Each time they patiently got to their feet, one of the soldiers would pull at the end of the chain, causing them to topple once more. It was like a game to them.

"C'mon, get a move on filth! What's the problem?" 

"Can't you see we have a schedule to adhere to?"

A snicker, "Yeah, get on your feet and move!"

Thace couldn't stand by a second longer.

"HEY!" he barked, thinking fast, "What are you two still doing down here? The General wants you back up on deck one."

The soldiers turned their gaze to Thace who stared unblinking at the pair.

"Did I stutter? Move it. Now! I'll take it from here."

The two soldiers exchanged looks. Shit, was this not how commands were given on this ship? But his father always taught him-

"Here," the Galra holding the chain muttered, placing said chain in Thace's hand.

The other Galra sneered, "Good luck. I'll be sure to tell the General that his precious son came back from nerd school all straightened out."

Thace didn't know whether to be relieved or worried that the soldiers had instantly seen the resemblance. Whichever it was, he didn't have time for that now. Once they had left, a quick glance around reassured Thace that there were no other soldiers about.

"I'm sorry about that," he whispered softly, "they shouldn't have behaved like that. But I, ah do have to take you to your cells, sorry." He pointed to their chain feet, "Can you actually walk with those? I can take them off for you if you want, the handcuffs alone should be enough in case we run into other soldiers."

The women exchanged curious looks, and one - a girl in fact - spoke up, "Why are you being nice to us?"

Thace frowned, "I'm not being particularly nice, I'm just not being an asshole."

"Yes but why?" she continued, not understanding.

A shrug, "Just because you're prisoners doesn't mean any of us have the right to treat you like this. You don't deserve it."

The girl's mouth parted slightly, eyes narrowing, and her heart skipped a beat, "Thace?"

"How do you- Miss Kogane? Is that you?" Thace grinned and rushed forwards, not realising what he was doing, he was too happy to finally see her here before him.

The women flinched, some crying out in alarm, and stepped backwards, almost falling once more. As for Miss Kogane, she was frowning, tears welling in her eyes and her fists clenched. 

Thace hesitated, his face falling as he saw Miss Kogane's and the other women's reaction to him. Why was she angry? Had he upset her somehow? Was this inappropriate body language to a human? His hand twitched, wanting to reach out and touch her own chained ones.

"Miss Koga-"

"You left me," she whispered angrily, tears threatening to spill. "You left me in the hands of Galra like  _ them _ ."

Thace opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off before he could make a sound.

"You left me alone in the dark."

"But… I've-I've come back!" he quickly explained, as if this wasn't already obvious. "I've come back to show you the stars."

The dim light of the prison corridors reflected off trails of tears as they finally fell down Miss Kogane's face.

"I've already seen them," she said, her voice devoid of emotion despite her tears, "I saw them as I was dragged along the corridors to this forsaken place and past windows that looked out into space. They're nothing like I remember. They're painful." Because they reminded her too much of the boy who had left.

Thace exhaled shakily, "I'm sorry I-"

"All you ever do is apologise. Why?"

"I don't know what else to say," he murmured truthfully.

Miss Kogane unclenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut, cascading even more tears down her face. When she opened her eyes wide, Thace saw how her pupils almost swallowed up her irides.

"No. Why did you leave?" she explained, her voice bitter as she continued, "Why did you even bother to come back?" 

"Because I made a promise. And because I miss you." The girl turned her head, not believing him. "Every day I was at the academy I thought about you, and I missed you."

She shifted her gaze back to him, but kept her head tilted towards the ground, "What academy?"

"My father enrolled me in the galaxy's top academy. I didn't really have a choice and… he sent me off before I could say goodbye. I'm s- I wish I could have told you. I can understand if you can't forgive me."

Miss Kogane sighed and stared down at her cuffed wrists and ankles, she was about to say something else when footsteps echoed down the corridor.

"Shit," Thace swore, "I have to- I can't let them-" he marched to the front of the line and began gently pulling on the chain. "I'm sorry, I have to get you humans to your cells before-"

"Thace my boy!"

Before that, before exactly that.

Renok rounded the corner, not even giving the humans a mere glance, and thumped his son on the back. Thace swayed slightly with the force of it and let out a fake laugh.

"Daaaad! What a um, surprise to see you here."

The General guaffed, "No need to be nervous Thace, I was just making sure you were putting that commanding voice to good use! The guards told me what you said to them."

Said guards were standing behind Thace's father, smirking.

Meanwhile, Renok waited expectantly. "Well? Show us what you've got, son."

"Oh right yes of course, ahem," he looked at Miss Kogane warily. "Get a move on you… you human scum? Yes, move along now," he pulled experimentally on the chain and the humans duly trotted forwards slightly.

Renok laughed, "Nice one, Thace, really had me going there, good joke. But be serious about this," he got close to his son's shoulder and whispered, "you don't want to embarrass me or let me down do you?"

"N-no, Dad." But he didn't want to hurt these people either. "Maybe I could show you later? I'm just busy right now."

His father raised an eyebrow, "Very well."

Thace nodded and began pulling on the chain, a little harsher than he would have liked, but still a lot gentler than the humans were used to. They were able to match his pace without too much difficulty.

Looking back, Thace noticed his father still watching him. Maybe he should pretend to shout at the prisoners more? Not that he wanted to but…

"Hey listen," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "I'm sorry I have to do this, but just know I don't mean a word of it." He directed his next words towards Miss Kogane, "I don't want to ever have to leave again, so I have to keep up the act."

With that, Thace sighed, hating what he was about to do, but knowing that he'd never be allowed back down here if didn't. 

"C'MON YOU HUMANS CAN'T YOU GO ANY FASTER?  _ I'm sorry for yelling, _ " he whispered, switching backwards and forwards, "GET A MOVE ON.  _ Take your time, it's okay. _ "

This carried on for a while until Thace was sure they were out of earshot of his father. He then took the chain off their feet so they could walk properly and asked them if they knew where they were heading as, in his haste, he'd forgotten that he did not in fact know where they were going.

One of the women, the one at the front who appeared to be the oldest, lifted her wrists and pointed with her thumb at the code etched on the cuffs.

Thace nodded and cautiously stepped forwards to get a better look at them, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible to the woman in question. Though, being Galra, this was somewhat impossible.

Eventually Thace was able to make the code out and quickly stepped back away. "Okay so…" Thace looked at the nearest cell, "Should be… just down here!" 

"Why did they have you out of your cells anyway?" he asked as they walked around.

"Tests," said the eldest and the rest of the women, Miss Kogane included, refused to elaborate on this. Thace respected their privacy and unlocked the eldest's restraints when he found her cell. One by one, the rest of the women were returned to their cells. It didn't take too long, and Thace made sure Miss Kogane was last.

He took off her restrains, careful not to touch her hand despite every single part of him aching to do so. Thace could tell she was still rather uncomfortable and didn't want to push his luck.

As she walked past him into her cell, he cleared his throat.

"Yes?" she asked, stopping before the door.

When Thace said nothing, she gave him a look and continued on, closing the door behind her. Or rather, she tried to close it behind her.

Thace caught the door, and quickly mumbled, "I'll be back tomorrow, i-if that's okay with you?"

Miss Kogane hesitated. Should she give him another chance? After all, what he'd said about an academy seemed to be true, she'd already seen how much control his father had over Thace, and he was only a child - they both were - when he'd made that promise. It was silly to think he would keep it. But now he was back maybe, just maybe, he still would.

Echoing her words from their first meeting, Miss Kogane smiled hesitantly and said, "I'd like that."


	4. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Certain things are brought to Thace's attention, things that could mean trouble for Miss Kogane. Investigations ensue but Thace might not like what he finds out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh this is a longer chapter than usual, but is plot heavy so ye

Each sound made her jump, more so than usual. Each step that echoed lifted her soul only for it to fall once more when its owner walked on by. She had no way of measuring time, she only knew that with each passing shadow she lost a little more hope.

And then...

He arrived. With apologies and, more importantly, explanations. A new job, a new boss - one who didn't care whose son he was or that he graduated top of his class. She listened patiently, grateful for his honesty, as her told her that it'd probably be like this every day, if indeed he could even get past the guards.

"The one just down the hall asked if I was one of the volunteers, any idea what that means?"

Miss Kogane shrugged, this was the first she'd heard of it too. 

"Anyway, I just went with it, hopefully it'll be a good enough cover for a while."

"Mmm."

She was sat on her metal bunk, a light flickering overhead. Thace was simply leant against the wall across from her. 

Every so often Miss Kogane would squint if the light flickered particularly brightly; she was not used to having any sort of light in her cell. She often wondered why her 'accommodation' had been upgraded, not that it was by much, but it was nice to have something to sit on that wasn't the floor. But then she did have to deal with the light…

"Are you okay?" he asked her, noticing her discomfort.

She motioned upwards, "It's too bright."

Thace furrowed his brow and looked up. The light was dim at best.

"I know it's probably not bright at all to you," she assured, "but my eyes are… sensitive. It's what happens when you're in the dark for too long I guess."

Thace thought for a moment, "Is that why you found the stars painful to look at?"

She sighed heavily, "That, and one other reason," pointedly, she looked at Thace.

"Oh…" he knew exactly what she meant by that.

They fell into an awkward silence until Thace finally spoke up, not being able to bare to see his friend suffer because of something he could fix so easily.

"Do you want me to turn the light off? I see better in the dark so I don't mind."

"Thank you yes, that would help. Oh but then I wouldn't be able to see you at all. Right now I can only make out your outline, but it's more than-"

He chuckled softly, "Just watch." Thace stood up straight and reached, his height giving him the advantage he needed to punch the light out. There being no light switch, this was the logical solution to the light problem in Thace's mind.

As soon as he did so, his eyes began to glow slightly.

Miss Kogane blinked. They were a soft yellow, so warm and inviting, and they didn't hurt her own eyes. 

At all. 

They reminded her of summer days spent outdoors, when the darkness of your home would blind you for a little while upon returning inside until you got used to the lack of light. She could see herself getting use to this light.

Best of all, they lit up his face just enough for Miss Kogane to see each and every detail. The curve of his cheekbones, the slope of his nose and smooth line of his slightly parted mouth, the hardness of his jaw...

"Um, Miss Kogane? You keep staring at me, is everything alright?"

She smiled, and gosh her smile, Thace had never seen it before. He didn't even know what to compare it to - he couldn't. He was just simply blown away.

"It's just…" she whispered, "your eyes remind me of home." 

And now he was smiling, both of them, grinning in the dark like idiots. Except they weren't really in the dark. He was her light and she was the darkness that allowed him to shine for her.

Only for her.

It was a shame he'd have to leave soon, "but I'll be back tomorrow, and every day after that with your permission."

Miss Kogane simply nodded, distracted by something, a niggling thought perhaps.

Thace turned to leave and as he did so, a hand brushed against his. Only lightly at first and then, when he hesitated and shifted his gaze back to her, she took his hand firmly, interweaving their fingers. "I'm glad you came back. I… I think I forgive you."

Thace ducked his head in thanks, giving her hand a final squeeze before he left her cell.

The next day, he returned around the same time.

"Y'know," the guard that had let him through that day before said, "you don't need to get to know the humans."

"Um, special orders. I've been asked to talk to her, privately. Every day."

The guard was skeptical, but let Thace pass. After all, a Galra wouldn't want to get to know a human of their own free will, right?

Of course, the guard wasn't to know that Thace and Miss Kogane already knew so much about each other, had already decided that the other was worth spending time with.

And slowly, the line between friends and something more blurred. It wasn't a sudden thing, their feelings just grew naturally. Holding hands as Thace left became sitting side by side, arms around each other for as long as they could; words of comfort became whispers in ears, promising sweet nothings that were impossible given their situation.

Their first kiss happened in her dingy cell, in the dark. But it was sweet, hesitant and oh so wanted. Thace made the request, wanting to know how her lips felt, and what would happen to the butterflies in his stomach should he act upon them.

"B-but only if you want to of c-cour-" he was cut off as she pulled him towards her.

Lips parted slightly as they met. Hearts fluttered and the butterflies sang. Nothing felt too different, because it just seemed so right. They already loved each other so much, even if they didn't know it yet, this was just the next logical step.

"I've wanted to do that for a while," she murmured, pressing her forehead against his. His ears twitched happily and she giggled as they brushed against her hair, tickling her.

He carefully caressed her cheek, moving a lock of hair behind her ear as he did so. "Me too."

For those few seconds, they were just two young people in love, a young couple finding their way in the universe.

Everything was so imperfectly perfect. 

But then the reality of the situation hit, and they were reminded of their place. She a prisoner, and he a soldier, both of the Galra empire; both used, both subject to Zarkon's will. The only difference was the size of their cages.

"This can't work," she sighed, "we'll both get in trouble for this."

"Only if they find out," Thace whispered.

And so it went.

Stolen kisses and lies and secrets that only the two shared. Muted conversations and unreachable dreams.

Thace would tell Miss Kogane of the world outside, painting a picture her eyes would never be able to see with such clarity. He told her of planets composed entirely of a glass like substance, of meteor showers that turned the sky a thousand shades of orange and purple and everything in between, of rain that fell like jewels, crystallizing the moment it hit the ground.

"Oh, that's snow."

Thace glanced down at her as she leant against his chest, "Snow?"

"Mmm, it would fall in winter."

He chuckled softly, "Don't know what that is either."

Miss Kogane traced lines along his neck, grinning when he shivered, "It was a time when everything got colder and we'd light the fire inside to keep us warm. It was... nice, in a way."

"Huh… I've never known the temperature to change too much, except for when the air conditioning goes down sometimes when we go at lightspeed. Vuki's trying to find a way to fix it."

"Vuki?" she asked looking up.

Thace waved a hand in the air, "A good friend of mine I made in the academy."

"Ah… does he know about this? About us?"

"In a way," he sat up a little, bracing his back against the metal bunk and drew Miss Kogane closer, "he knows that I come to visit you and he's volunteered to help if we ever need it. But apart from that… He doesn't ask me too many questions, he's good at respecting people's privacy like that."

Miss Kogane snuggled into his neck. "Good," she mumbled. "Nice to have someone on our side."

Thace hummed in agreement.

Soon enough it was time for him to leave for the day. One last cuddle and a kiss goodbye, and he was gone once more.

As he left, he was startled by the guard that let him through every evening, "What's gonna happen to it anyway?"

"I'm sorry?"

The guard huffed, "I mean, I know about the breeding program and all that, but after that…" the guard's voice faded off as Thace's mind ran. Breeding program? Is that what those tests had been about? Oh jeez, and he'd said he was a 'volunteer'. He was pretty sure he knew what that meant too.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you. What else do you know? C'mon, I'm curious."

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, taken by surprise, "But I think you know enough." His voice was firmer now, more commanding and - though he wouldn't like to hear it - very much like his father's. "Just know that we're trying a new approach with this one, we're testing how kindness and treating the prisoner a little better affects the results." He hated having to put it like that.

The guard nodded and patted him on the back, "Makes sense, but you poor sod. No wonder you always look sad when you leave. It must be hard being nice to something like that for so long."

Thace didn't answer. He was too busy thinking about what he could do to get Miss Kogane out of this. Or at least warn her of her fate so she knew what was coming. Although… maybe he should find out more first? After all, maybe it didn't mean what he thought it meant, or rather, he hoped it didn't.

He left without another word, already working out how to get past the communication bay's security walls. 

Right now, his job involved making sure everyone else knew where they were going and fixing any internal bugs in the system. Surely he could fake a problem with the prisoner files and get into them to find out more.

So deep in thought, he didn't even noticed that he'd past his room until Vuki called out.

"Huh?" Thace spun around.

"I said," Vukano smirked, "that you just walked straight past me. I was waiting to ask you if I could borrow your toothpaste."

Thace glared, "Again?!?"

"Hey you don't get teeth like this," Vuki grinned showing off his fangs, "with just daily cleaning."

"You waste your own on that bloody rock collection of yours," Thace shot back, his smile smaller than usual. He was too worried about Miss Kogane.

Vuki noticed immediately, "Alright, what's wrong? You're distracted and your ears are all droopy."

Damn his ears, they always gave him away.

He pricked them back up in an attempt to cover how distraught he was. 

"It's noth-" No, it was okay if Vuki knew. "Have you heard anything about a breeding program?"

Vuki's bewildered look was enough of an answer. "Please tell me you're not-"

"No look, listen. I only just found out about it."

"But what is  _ it _ ?"

Thace shrugged, "I… I don't know yet. But I need to find out."

"Gosh darn it," Vuki muttered.

"Yeah its a shitty situation."

A frown, "Language."

"We're adults now, we're allowed to swear."

Vuki lifted an eyebrow, "Even in front of your father?"

"T-that's debatable," Thace stuttered, "and besides the point. I need to work out a way to ha-urk." he was cut off as Vuki dragged him into his room.

"Not out in the open you clod!" Vukano closed the door. "Okay, you're on about hacking the system? Dude, that's, that's gonna be hard. Even for you." He began pacing, tapping his chin. When he eventually grew enough of a beard, he would be the type of person to stroke a nicely trimmed goatee.

Thace opened his mouth to speak but Vuki raised his hand, stopping him. He was thinking. No interruptions.

The ticks went by. Thace followed Vuki's path with his eyes, ears twitching whenever his friend stopped only to shake his head and continue.

"Wait what if- no, that won't work."

"What won't work?"

Vukano sighed, "I was going to suggest you just straight up asking your father-"

"I could do that," Thace considered.

"Nonono. No. You don't want him knowing that you're interested in the human prisoners at all, don't draw attention to it. Your father will get curious and your damn ears will give you away. Your father knows you too well."

Thace thought back to his first day back aboard the ship, "He  _ has _ already seen me down there once."

"Yeah, when he thought you'd be assigned down there. Remember that little discussion?"

"Mmm…"  Thace had had to pretend he'd been confused as to his assigned position, something that hadn't gone down well with his father, but he'd brushed it off easily enough at least. Asking about the human prisoners however… That would make it harder to pull the wool over his father's eyes.

Vukano went back to his pacing, mind racing, trying to figure out how he could help his friend without either of them getting caught.

Eventually Vuki clapped, waking Thace who had fallen asleep sometime in the past hour or so.

"I've got it! Now, ask me how we're going to do it. Go on, ask!"

Thace grinned sleepily, "How are we going to do it?"

"Okay, here's the plan." Vuki sat down next to Thace, "Tomorrow early morning I'll go down to main control, pretending I've been sent to fix the wiring, only I'm going to break it."

"Won't you get in trouble for that?"

He waved a hand, "I'll give the wrong name, someone else can take the blame. I'm not as recognisable as you, son of Mr High and Mighty. Oh get that frown off your face, you can't save everyone." Vuki knew Thace wouldn't approve of throwing someone else - anyone else - under the bus. But it had to be done.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll just give a random name. Anyway," Vukano continued, "I do that, then you get called into main control to fix the problem."

"Why would they do that when it'll be an electrical problem?"

Vuki put his arm around Thace, "Dude.  _ Dude _ . They'll get you to run a diagnostics first, don't you worry your pretty little head about it."

Thace ducked as Vuki went to ruffle his hair, but his short nap had made him drowsy and he wasn't fast enough, ending up with strands of mussed hair all over the place.

"Thanks, Vuki." Thace drawled, shaking his head trying to tame his hair back into place.

"Don't mention it," Vukano said with an impish grin, " _Anyway_ , you get called in, then you'll have kind of a free reign of the main system. I'm sure you'll be able to access the prison files from there. All you'll need is your father's admin password, that gives you access to everything, right?"

Thace nodded, "I already know it too. It's mom's name."

"Ah, of course it is."

And so the plan was put into motion.

The first part of the investigation was a success, Vuki giving the name of his old bully, Sykoz, and deftly switching around wires that would take a while to be noticed. It would also be rather difficult for anyone other than himself to put right.

Graduating top of his class aboard a ship of mainly mediocre Galra, meant Thace was called almost as soon as the alarms began to beep. 

The main control's commander handed Thace her tablet and instructed him to look into the issue while she approved the daily report on the main system. Luckily for Thace, all tablets in control were linked into the respective system.

Shielding the tablet with his body, Thace delved into the central files.

He confirmed the password override, very consciously keeping his ears in check. When the tablet asked for said password, he confidently entered the word, 'Loril'. 

ACCESS DENIED. 

Wait, what? Shit. Had he spelt his own mother's name wrong? No, he can't have, but then again, he was nervous. 

Thace tried again, taking extra care to press the correct keys.

ACCESS DENIED. 

He only had one last shot at this.

Thace thought quickly, who or what could his father possibly care about more than his wife? The woman that had bore his child and died while giving birth, the child he never even for a moment blamed, even as he he held his late wife in his arms and wept for- Oh. 

Wait. No. Maybe?

Hesitantly, ears quivering, Thace entered his own name into the system. 

ACCESS GRANTED.

Well then. Thace blinked, shocked. That was certainly something to think about. 

Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside. He didn't have time now. Okay, prison files… prisoner list… where was K… Aha! There! Kogane. Thace opened up the file, information appearing on the screen. 

_ Tsubaki Kogane. Female. Aged 17 human years. Acquired at age 7 human years. Current test subject of the Dena study, stage 2. Volunteer inbound. ETA: N/A. _

First he stared at her name, quickly memorising it so he could tell her, and making a mental note to have a word with Pacla - she should've told him. Then he did a quick search for the Dena study, tapping the first result it gave him.

An entire document filled the screen, certain words and phrases popping out more than others.

_ Crossbreeding, previous study deemed a failure, incompatibility leading to destruction of host subjects, genetic enhancement and manipulation of current subjects to improve results, weekly tests to ensure continued compatibility, subjects to be terminated upon completion of study...  _ The words spun around in his head. 

The more Thace read, the more Thace wished he could wipe the entire study from his mind.

He had to tell her now, he had to. 

In a frantic rush he cleared the search history and made sure there was no trace of his investigations. A quick diagnostics test to cover up the time spent digging around, and he was ready to report back to the commander.

Thace made a conscious effort to keep his features neutral, ears at ease, giving nothing away.

Wordlessly, he handed the tablet to the commander.

"What was the problem?"

"Diagnostics show a malfunction in the electrical wiring, cross circuits misdirecting the energy supply."

The commander stared down at the tablet, the symbols and numbers meaning nothing to her, "Sure, I'll take your word for it. Hey, Kubak! Get that kid in here that messed with the electrics this morning." 

"Oh," Thace put in quickly, "you don't want him. Ma'am. Vukano in wing six would be a better Galra for the job. He's the one fixing the air conditioning problem."

Claws clacked against the tablet. The aircon problem had been plaguing the entire ship for some months now. "Is he getting anywhere with it?"

"Last week he found the source of the problem within the first hour of being assigned to it."

The commander raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Very well. Kubak, get in touch with this Vukano - wing six."

"Yes, Ma'am. Shall I assign him to it right now?"

She checked the time, "It's my lunch break soon, wait until afterwards so I can supervise him."

"If I may speak, Ma'am?" Thace piped up.

"You may."

He cleared his throat and stood to attention. "As the son of General Renok, it would be my honour to supervise in your stead so the problem can be fixed before further issues arise."

"Further issues?"

Thace pointed at the tablet, "Continued misdirection of the energy supply will lead to total shut down should it continue for too long." This was of course a lie, but the commander knew nothing of the internal workings of the ship. She also failed to notice one of Thace's ears fluttering anxiously.

"Oh. Very well then," she turned to her lieutenant. "Call the aircon boy."

"Yes, Ma'am."

As soon as the call was made, the commander went off to lunch, leaving Thace in charge of his co-conspirer. It would be a hilarious situation really, if the mission itself wasn't so serious.

It took Vuki mere seconds to fix the 'problem', and then they high tailed it out of there before the lieutenant looked too closely and recognised Vuki from before. The pair still had work to do before they clocked out in the evening.

When he eventually got off, he went straight to Miss Kogane. No, to Tsubaki. That was her name. He'd almost forgotten amidst the other new information he'd gathered today.

As he opened the door she smiled, "Thace! Wait why are you-"

"I… I have some good news, and some bad news. Very bad news," he said gravely.  

"Oh, okay," she shuddered slightly and Thace quickly went to comfort her. Looking up, she continued, "Well, let's start with the bad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that I'll be away for a week soon with no internet connection so I won't be able to post the next chapter until after that, if indeed I can write it while I'm traveling (road trip yaay)


	5. To Tell Or Not To Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With new information hanging over their heads, Thace and Miss Kogane must decide what they're going to do about it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having no wifi is actually pretty good for writing lol, here's chapter 5 and chapter 6 is well underway. Oh, and the rating is most likely going to change to M next chapter, so look out for that

"How could they- without telling me anything? A-and I thought they were just checking to make sure I was healthy."

"I mean technically I'm sure they were doing that too." Miss Kogane gave him a look. "Sorry," he cuddled her close, stroking her hair comfortingly.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tears of frustration soaking into Thace's shirt - he had long ago stopped wearing his armour when he visited. "It's just, how do I know what they've changed? What if it's not just my genes but like my body as well? What then? Am I not human anymore? Am I just… something else? I don't-"

"Hey, shuuush, it's okay," he put his hands on either side of her face so she could look into his eyes. "It's okay. You're my Kogane, you're Tsubaki Kogane."

"Tsubaki?" The name felt both familiar and foreign to her. "That's my name?"

Thace nodded, "The one good thing that came out of your file."

Tsubaki threw her arms around his waist, nails digging into his lower back. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I tried to find your name in the book as well but-"

"The book?"

Motioning for Tsubaki to let go of him, Thace reached into his pocket and drew out the tattered name book. "This thing."

"You kept it…"

He shrugged, "Of course I did, it's been through a lot, but it's here. But yeah, your name isn't in it, sorry."

Miss Kogane buried her face into his chest once more, "it's okay."

"It's not okay until I've got you out of this mess." He hadn't even told her about the 'subjects to be terminated upon completion of study' part, partly because he foolishly refused to believe it himself, and partly because he planned to prevent it from ever happening.

She pulled back once more, hands on his chest this time, "How are you going to do that?"

"I…" he didn't know.

Tapping her fingers, Tsubaki bit her lip, "Is there anyway to check what they've changed about me?"

Thace cheeks turned a dark shade of purple,  "I um, here? It's not really the best place for-"

She thumped his chest, "I meant by checking the files."

"Oh… OH!" Thace scratched the back of his neck nervously while Miss Kogane rolled her eyes at him. "I'd have to wait a bit before trying to get back into the files, and by that time it might be too late. The file said your volunteer was inbound or som-"

"Wait but didn't you once say you were a volunteer?"

He mumbled something unintelligible, ears bowed down.

"Thace," she said sternly. 

"Yes, yes I did," he hung his head. "I'm sorry if I had known what it meant-"

Tsubaki frowned, "You would never have signed up to breed with a human, huh?"

"Well first off I didn't exactly sign up and," he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting her face up, "that's not why I'm against this. If I had known what it meant, I would have asked you first."

She considered this. "So, are you going to say that it was a mistake?"

"What? No, of course not, I don't want you ending up with some random Galra. Unless… you'd rather it wasn't me?"

"Are you kidding me? If this has to happen, then at least it can be with you, right?"

Thace groaned, resting his forehead against her head. "This is so messed up," he mumbled. "I don't even know how I'm going to make sure you are paired with me."

"Why not ask your father?"

"Ha, that's a joke, right?"

She frowned again and went to sit on her bunk, "I don't understand what goes on between you and your father. Sometimes you speak so highly of him, other times you hate everything about yourself that reminds you of him. And he's done terrible things to you, and to me."

"I… I know but, he does love me; he's my father. I'm all he's got. He just… he won't stand for this," he pointed between himself and Tsubaki.

"Tell me about him," she said, patting the space next to her. "Then I'll have a better image of how you can deceive him."

Thace's complexion paled, "Deceive him? I can't deceive anyone!" he sat down with a thump, "Especially not to my father; my ears go all twitchy."   
  
"Then I'll get you a hat." Tsubaki said matter of factly.

He grinned, "You'll get me a hat? I already have a helmet." 

"Well there you go then. Now," she took his hand and interlocked their fingers, "tell me about your father."

A sigh, "Alright. He's very hardworking, he got into the position he's in now through hard work and dedication. He actually could have been serving directly under Zarkon if not for my mother."

Tsubaki tilted her head, "What did she do?"

"Floor him, and I mean physically floor him. And my father fell in love with her," he smiled, remembering the stories his father would tell him as a child. "He settled here on this ship, all because of my mother. He nervously asked her out one day and then that was it; they starting dating, they fell in love, got married. And then I came along."

Thace was silent for a while as he tapped out a random beat on Miss Kogane's hand, "Mom… mom didn't make it," he finally said, voice cracking slightly. "Dad was heartbroken, but he never blamed me. He always said that even if he had lost my mother, at least he still had me. That I was her last gift to him."

"But, you never got to know her."

"Not in person, no. But my father used to tell me all about her, every little detail he could remember. From her underbite to her laugh, from her dreams of being a pilot to the way she used to pick him up and twirl him around whenever she was happy. I felt like I kinda did know her."

Tsubaki smiled and squeezed his hand, "She sounds like an amazing woman."

"Yeah, I'm sure she was."

"Maybe that's the way to go then."

Thace furrowed his brow, not quite understanding.

"If he was at his happiest when he was in love, and he loves you, then maybe seeing you in love would make him- I mean," she quickly babbled, "I love you, I don't know if you love me," she chuckled nervously. "It's okay if you-"

She was cut off as Thace cupped her cheek. As she leaned into it, he whispered, "Tsubaki."

"Yes?" It felt so good to be able to respond to that, to know her own name after so long.

"I love you too, never for a moment doubt that." Gently, he kissed her. Just a light peck that only brushed across the surface of her lips. "So," he murmured, "your brilliant plan to deceive my father is to tell him the truth?"

She breathed out, sending warm air into Thace's face, "It is. But I think we can talk about that later."

"Mmm…" Thace agreed, kissing her once again, only this time deeper, much deeper. It was a good job the guards weren't instructed to check in on the prisoners every now and again, because neither would have noticed even an entire army walking in on them at this point.

They broke apart only to catch their breath and to whisper each other's name, a thrill rushing through Tsubaki whenever hers was uttered. For a prisoner to have a name - a full name - it was unheard of; and yet here she was, and here he was with her. 

Her Thace. Her Galra.

Clawed fingers caressed her sides, and bitten and distraught nails dug into his back as Tsubaki pulled him towards her. Pale pink lips moved from mouth to jaw line to neck, and muted groans floated around them. Questioning touches and ghostly whispers of breath that sent shivers down Thace's spine, his ears all aflutter, and a smiled danced across Miss Kogane's mouth. 

If it wasn't for their environment, if it wasn't for the situation there were in, if it wasn't for-

Thace's communicator buzzed, signalling his curfew. 

If it wasn't for that.

He parted from her with a final peck and, so caught up in their daydream, he promised to tell his father about them.

"So you think it's a good idea?"

"I do," he assured her, "I'll tell him tomorrow."

"Nu-uh, nope, absolutely not, there's no way you're doing that."

"Why not?" Thace was sat on his bunk being stared down by Vuki after he'd explained Tsubaki's plan.

"Because it's a dumb, naive idea and it won't work. We've already been over this." Vukano told him, trying to talk sense into his friend. "Your father might have fallen for it years ago, but he's bitter now, and you know it." Thace rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't give me that attitude. Go on tell me, when was the last time you had a proper father-son conversation with him?"

Glowering, Thace stayed silent.

"Exactly," Vuki said smugly.

"It wasn't that long ago!" Thace defended, "Five, maybe six... o-or seven years ago," he faltered as he tried to remember.

Vuki raised an eyebrow, "A-huh. That's a long time ago buddy."

"Well I don't see you coming up with a better idea!"

Vukano's eyebrows could not get any higher. He took a deep breath and then rattled off a plan. "Sneak into your dad's office, I'll distract him. You get on his computer and make the change. No-one will question it coming from your father and you already know exactly where the file is, so you'll be able to change it in a tick and be out in another."

"... That… that's a good plan." Thace had to admit, "I like that plan. We should have done that in the first place."

"You told me it took you like ten minutes alone to read through all the info on the file, no way could anyone have distracted your father for that long."

Thace raised a finger, mouth open. He then closed it as he considered this statement and finally nodded, "Fair point. So when do we do this?"

"Tomorrow after work."

"But-"

Vuki sighed, "You'll be like two minutes late. She won't even notice."

Thace knew that she would, but decided not to argue.

"Anyway, get some rest, I'll go do the same." Vuki edged towards the door.

"Hang on…" Thace had a sneaky suspicion. "Have you returned my toothpaste yet?"

Vukano shot out the door, very nearly face planting against his own, before locking it behind him.

Thace growled, but followed it with a chuckle as he took out his emergency toothpaste from under his pillow. He'd gotten so used to this by now. It was almost like a never-ending game.

The next morning, Thace was up bright and early, knocking on Vuki's door incessantly until his friend open it.

"Wha?!?" Vukano was not a morning person, and it showed. Messy hair that covered his smaller than average ears, dull yellow eyes that were squinted shut despite the low setting of the hall lights, the slur of a drunk and dressed in a sloppily thrown on dressing gown. 

Yep, he was definitely still half asleep.

Thace began to lightly punch Vuki's shoulders, barely even touching him, but it was enough to make Vukano sway on the spot. "C'mon Vuki, time to go, time to go." Each word brought a new tap.

"I have never," Vuki drawled in between yawns, "in all my years of service-"

"We've been here two months, if that."

"-seen you so gosh darn excited to start the day. What the heck is wrong with you?"

Bobbing up and down on the spot, ears stood upright, Thace answered, "This way I'll be able to sneak into my father's office before he finishes for the day. And I won't be late to visit Miss Kogane."

"You think we'll get off early if we go in early?" Vuki squinted at him, "You even have your, your…" he struggled to find the word and finally settled with, "metal clothes on. Jeez, you're serious about this. What time  _ is _ it?"

"Early."

"Thank you, Thace," he said dryly, "I guessed that."

Eventually, Thace managed to convince Vuki to get dressed and ready for the day. It came at the price of next month's supply of toothpaste, though Thace had not expected any less.

"Private Thace, son of Renok, reporting for duty!" Thace saluted his commanding officer, then nudged Vuki when he failed to speak up.

"What he said, Vukano… Ukx…" Vuki trailed off, rubbing his eyes.

Their commanding officer raised an eyebrow at Vuki but chose to ignore him and turned to Thace, "You're both half an hour early for duty."

"Tell me about it," Vuki muttered quietly.

"We thought," Thace said, nudging Vuki once more, "that we'd start the working day a tad earlier."

"Mmm, 'we'." 

This time Vuki got his foot stepped on.

"Oh very well," the commander didn't care if they came in early, they were good enough teens and wouldn't get into any trouble, "just go to your stations. Vrepit Sa."

"Vrepit Sa!" the boys said out of sync, Vuki trailing.

To say it was a slow day would be an understatement. Thace had never watched time go by more than he did that day. Each tick was agony. 

With half an hour left of the work day, Thace tried his luck.

"So that's why you and midget over there clocked in early, figures. Some sort of celebration going on between all you young'uns I assume." The commander thought about this for a second, remembering his own teenage years, "I'll let you off five minutes early."

It was better than nothing. 

Still, it would leave a very small gap to get to his father's office and get out in time. He also didn't appreciate his commander calling his friend a 'midget', not at all. Maybe he'd redirect the dear commander's toilet roll supply by 'accident'.

Thace sent Vuki a private encrypted message with the updated times that took the latter the remaining twenty-five minutes to decipher. And he was only able to do it that fast because the code was half based off the Earthling alphabet Thace had taught him a little of. Vuki did not get paid enough to decipher this malarky, in fact, he wasn't paid at all to decipher  _ this _ particular malarky. The things he did in the name of friendship.

They met up in the main hallway, "Seriously dude, you couldn't've made it just a little easier to decipher?"

"Nope. Anyway I gave you some binary code."

"Oh yeah," Vuki snorted, "All of 4 bits, you didn't even make it a full byte."

Thace shrugged as he peered round the corner, "Didn't need to, five only needs three bits really."

"Tell that to a computer when it has to assess thousands of numbers in the same tick. Nor-ma-lise." Vuki emphasised each syllable with a poke.

"Sure okay I will," Thace muttered, planning to do nothing of the sort, "Now, you stay here and keep watch, fiddle with the control panel electrics to make it seem like you're doing something."

Vuki popped open the case with ease, "You say that like I wasn't already going to do that. Oooh, this is some good quality-"

"No. No stealing."

A pout, "Just a li-"

"No! Now keep watch, remember the signal."

Vuki nodded and prodded a particularly good capacitor with anguish.

Trusting Vuki to not destroy the ship's control panels, Thace sneaked around the corner and walked down to his father's office. As expected, it was empty. 

Perfect.

He slipped through the door and ran across to the computer, tapping into the system with a flick of his wrists. Thace found the file and entered his own name into the 'volunteer' field. Like Vuki had said, it took a single tick to do so.

As he was about to leave however, the lights suddenly went out. 

That was the signal.

Thace swore and ducked back behind the desk. He'd be found for sure if his father got to his office, but that was where Vuki came in.

His father's voice drifted through the door, "-fixed as soon as you can."

"Sir! General Renok, Sir! I need your authentication to go into the main frame since I'm off duty."

"At this time?"

Outside the door, Vuki nodded, "Yes, Sir. Early start today."

"I see… Very well, where's the nearest control panel?"

"Right this way, Sir."

As the footsteps faded off, Thace bolted out the door and hurried the other way down the hall. That was a close one. Thank goodness for Vuki.

Thace looped back around to his quarters to drop off his armour, high five a very smug looking Vuki, and then high-tailed it down to Miss Kogane. Time to tell her of the change of plan and its success.

"So, did you tell your father?!" Tsubaki asked excitedly.

Thace absentmindedly kiss her head and wrapped his arms around her, "No, but I got it changed anyway. Vuki help-"

"Vuki again. Of course," she said monotonously, stepping away from Thace.

Thace cocked his head, ears drooping. "I-is there a problem, Tsubaki?" When she didn't answer he sighed, "Look I don't think I gave you the right impression yesterday of my father. The one I gave you was years old, he's changed a lot since then."

"Mmm… So why did you lead me to believe that-"

He groan in frustration, "I don't know, maybe because I wanted to believe it too."

Miss Kogane slowly approached Thace and leant her head against his chest. Cautiously, Thace took her back into his arms, squeezing her tightly when she slipped her own around his waist.

"Guess we're both hopeful fools huh?"

Thace stroked the back of her hair, "You're not a fool, Tsubaki. You just hope to find the best in people, we both do," he chuckled. "It's a good job Vuki talks sense, you know he-"

"Can we not talk about him?"

"Oh. Okay, sure." Thace was a little shocked, "May I ask why though?"

She sighed, "Just… I don't want him poking his nose in our business. If he knows too much he might be tempted to tell someone."

"I trust him not to, he would never even consider it."

"I hope you're right about that."

Thace bit his lip, "I think you'd actually like him if you met him. You both have the same 'are you shitting me' look."

Miss Kogane glowered at him.

"Yes, that's the one- Oh. Got it, shutting up."

She shook her head, smiling fondly, "Maybe I could meet this Vuki. If I don't like him, I could always-"

"No, no punching."

"Tch, where's the fun in that?"

Thace laughed, "Your ferocity both amazes and scares me."

"Good," Tsubaki muttered, leaning her forehead against him once more. "How does this volunteer thing work anyway?" she asked changing the subject as she played with the hem of Thace's shirt. It was incredibly distracting.

Coughing nervously, he answered, "I don't know how the study plans for it to work, but I know how I'd like to do- how I'd like for this to go."

"And how's that?" 

Thace didn't know if she genuinely didn't know, or if she was just teasing him. Judging by how her hands were now flirting along his waistband, he suspected the latter. But then again, he mused, there would be no way for her to find out as a prisoner, right? He himself didn't know too much, but he knew enough. Or so he hoped.

Fingernails scratched up his back, "Thace?"

"Hmm? Oh yes well that is um, it's not exactly, see I've never really-" 

Tsubaki's laugh cut him off. "You're so cute when you're flustered."

This only made Thace spout even more gibberish as he struggled to stop his ears from twitching incessantly and the blush from creeping up his neck.

"We can leave it until another day," she whispered, her hands still wandering up his back, delicately skimming over the bones there, "I wouldn't want to do it here anyway." Ah so she did know. Temptress.

"No, a cell isn't a good place to, for um…" Thace trailed off, not wanting to say the word.

Luckily, Miss Kogane had no such shame, "For sex, yes."

Thace felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, though that wasn't the only place the blood was rushing. "I think we should sit down," he squeaked, causing Tsubaki to giggle even more, which did certainly not help his situation. At all.

Gently, she pulled him by the hand to her bunk, smiling the whole time. Why was her smile so beautiful? Perhaps it was the chip in her front tooth, or the way her eyes crinkled at the edges, or the dimples that appeared as if by magic. Whatever it was, Thace loved it - loved her. And she deserved better than this.

"Tsubaki, I'm going to get you out of here. Tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When tired, Vuki is me and I am Vuki. Also maybe look up the meaning of Miss Kogane's first name (; (and not just the meaning in Japanese but like the whole meaning, you'll see what I mean).


End file.
